Page:Bank Markazi v. Peterson SCOTUS slip opinion.pdf/1

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American nationals may seek money damages from state sponsors of terrorism in the courts of the United States. See 28 U. S. C. §1605A. Prevailing plaintiffs, however, often face practical and legal difficulties enforcing their judgments. To place beyond dispute the availability of certain assets for satisfaction of judgments rendered in terrorism cases against Iran, Congress enacted the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012. As relevant here, the Act makes a designated set of assets available to satisfy the judgments underlying a consolidated enforcement proceeding which the statute identifies by the District Court's docket number. 22 U. S. C. §8772. Section 8772(a)(2) requires a court, before allowing execution against these assets, to determine, inter alia, "whether Iran holds equitable title to, or the beneficial interest in, the assets."

Respondents—more than 1,000 victims of Iran-sponsored acts of terrorism, their estate representatives, and surviving family members—rank within 16 discrete groups, each of which brought suit against Iran. To enforce judgments they obtained by default, the 16 groups moved for turnover of about $1.75 billion in bond assets held in a New York bank account—assets that, respondents alleged, were owned by Bank Markazi, the Central Bank of Iran. The turnover proceeding began in 2008. In 2012, the judgment holders updated their motions to include execution claims under §8772. Bank Markazi maintained that §8772 could not withstand inspection under the separation-of-powers doctrine, contending that Congress had usurped the judicial role by directing a particular result in the pending enforcement proceeding. The District Court disagreed, concluding that §8772 permissibly changed the law applicable in a pending litigation.